Governor



H. G. ADLER June I 30, 1942.

GOVERNOR :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filedldarch 31, 1941 INVENTOR. R-MAN G. ADLER I ATTORNE;Z

June 30, 1942.

Herr.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG a uvvzzvron. HERMAN GADLER ATTORNE June 30, 1942. H, G. ADLER 2,288,382

GOVERNOR Filed March 31, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 DUAL rugcnuu cuRvE 90 r FIG05' Ill 60 g J ACTUAL oven 0R 2 cuRvE 3 sme FULG uu CURVE 30% Auculun uwsudarorimuas Level:

I NV EN TOR.

Patented June 30, 1942 GOVERNOR Herman G. Adler, Detroit, Mich., assignor toNcvi Equipment Company,-Novi, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application March 31, 1941,;SerialNo. 386,137

8 Claims. 01. 264,-17)

The present invention relates to a governor of new design, and is an improvement over the governor shown in my prior copending application, Serial No. 257,557, filed February 20, 1939, now matured as Patent No. 2,250,982. The .present .application is, a continuation in, part of my It is a' further object of the present invention.

to provide centrifugal balls between inclined races, in combination with. a slotted driver characterized by non-radiahand preferably curved driving slots.

It is a furtherobject of the present invention;

to provide a novel lubricating arrangement which insures ample lubrication of thegovernor during operation, and which drains the same when idle, and which prevents accumulation .of sludge therein.

as the description proceeds, and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the governor;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the governor;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the governor with parts in section;

Figure 4 is a diagram indicating the geometry of thedual fulcrum spring employed;

Figure 5 is a chart illustrating the ,torquedeveloped by thedual fulcrum spring;

Figure 6 is a detail elevation of the novel driver;

Figure 7 is a side elvation of the drivershown in Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the housing closure plate.

The governor comprising the present invention Other objects of the invention will be apparent open at one end andis adapted to be closedby a closure plate l3, appropriately secured .in .placeat the .open. end of the housing. The. closure plate I3. is provided with bearings. |4,.hereinindicated as ball. bearings, adapted to support adrive shaft. l5. .Thedrive shaft 15 has keyed onotherwise secured thereto a driving gear 16 adapted. to .be driven from .an appropriate membcr associated with the .engine tobe governed.

A bushing I1 is mounted for free rotation. on the shaft [5 within the inner race of the bearing M, and supports an annular .plate l8 for freerotation on the shaft l5. .Asecond cooperating plate i9 is also carried by the shaft I5 for freerotation and axial movement, and is supported thereon by .means ofan axiallymovablegbushing 20. A thrust collar 2 I. having aflangeZ is loosely mounted v.on bushinglfi, and ball bearing elements 22 are receivedbetween the .flange 2| and the plate l9. .Both. the .flange 2| and the plate I!) are provided. with shallow grooves for receiving and retaining the .b-alls.22 in position, thus forming a race for .the .balls.

The plate |5 is indicated as dished in a manner to provide a space between the plates 18 and I9, which is outwardly constricted for a purpose which will presently appear.

Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft I5 is a driver 39having generally radial Lball re ceiving slots indicated at 3|. I have indicated a supporting sleeve 32 keyed as indicated at 33 to the shaft l5 for supporting the driver 30. 'Received within the slots 3| and between theplates I8 and I9 are a plurality of balls 34 which, as will be evident, will be driven in rotation by. rotation of the shaft 15.

Rotation of the shaft l5 and corresponding rotation of the balls 34. urges the balls outwardly due to the centrifugal force developed. Outward movement of the balls moves the axially movable plate I9 and the associated thrust collar. 2| to the left, as seenin Figure 2. This motion is resisted by suitable balancing mechanism, which will now be described in detail.

The housing I0 is provided .interiorly with a recess 49 for receiving one end of a rotatably mounted shaft 4|, the shaft extending exteriorly of the casing 10 through an outwardly extending apertured bOSs 4'2. Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 4!, as indicated at 43, is a yoke element '44 having depending arms 45 adapted to engage the flange 2! on the thrust collar. Secured to the externally projecting end of the shaft 4| is a controlarm 50, having adjacent its enda ball element 5| adapted, to be connected to a link 52, which in turn is connected to means for controlling the position of the throttle (not shown). In Figure 3 I have indicated the link 52 as provided with a hollow sheet metal member 53 shaped to partly embrace the ball element 5|, and having a springpressed plunger 5 therein, urged by a spring 55 to retain the link 52 connected to the ball 5!.

The boss lZ has a cylindrically finished surface on which is mounted, coaxially with the shaft Ail, an adjusting lever 60. Tension means are provided inter-connecting the levers 50 and 60, and for this purpose the lever 50 is provided adjacent its free end with a laterally extending arm 56, having an eye 5'! therein for the reception of a loop of a coil tension spring 58. The lever 60 is provided with a projecting stud 6| on which is pivoted a rigid link element 62, having an eye 63 for the reception of the opposite end of the coil spring 58. Spring 58 and link 62 together make up a spring connection between levers 58 and 50.

The adjusting lever 60 is provided at its free end with a ball 65, similar in all respects to the ball 5! carried by the lever 50, previously described. Suitable manual adjusting means (not shown) are adapted to be connected to the ball (i l for swinging the adjusting arm 68 into predetermined position and for retaining it in this position. As will be appreciated, adjustment of the arm 6!] varies the tension and the instantaneous effectiveness of the torque arm of the spring 58 with respect to the control lever 59, and thereby serves as a speed control setting for the governor.

The arms 50 and 6G are axially spaced from each other, but means are provided on one of the arms which is engageable with the other arm, whereby upon swinging of the adjusting arm 60 to limiting position in one direction the control arm 50 will be simultaneously positively moved to a position corresponding to idle position of the throttle. This means takes the form of a projection 65 extending from the arm 50 into the plane of movement of the arm 50 and adapted to engage the arm 50 when the angularity between the arms is reduced to a predetermined amount. The projection 65 serves another important function, as will now be described. As indicated in Figure l, the projection 55 serves also as an abutment for the rigid link 52, and is adapted when the angularity between the arms 5!] and 60 increases to a predetermined amount, to prevent further swinging of the link 62 about the stud Bl. This will modify the effectiveness of the spring in a manner which will now be pointed out.

As stated at the outset, the present governor is designed to operate through an extraordinarily wide speed range, and accordingly the means for balancing the torque developed by the centrifugal means must correspond to the developed torque throughout a wide range. As indicated in Figure 5, the governor of the type illustrated may have an actual governor curve, as indicated by dotted lines in this figure. If the link 62 and associated cooperating abutment 65 were omitted so that the spring had a single fulcrum, the curve drawn with the broken line and designated single fulcrum curve would be obtained. As is apparent, this curve deviates sharply from the actual governor curve, particularly in the high torque range. It would, of course, be possible to modify the spring characacteristics and design so as to cause this curve to correspond closely to the actual governor curve in the high torque range, but if this were done the curve would deviate widely from the actual governor curve in the low torque range. By employing the present construction, that is, resilient means comprising the tension spring and pivoted link, together with an abutment to prevent swinging movement of the pivot link upon attainment of a predetermined angularity between the levers, the curve shown in full line and designated dual fulcrum curve is obtained. As will be evident, this curve follows closely the actual governor curve throughout the entire range, with the result that close regulation may be obtained throughout an exceedingly wide speed range.

In Figure 4 I have illustrated the geemetry involved in what I term the dual fulcrum construction, and in this figure the axis of the shaft 4! is designated at O; the axis of the stud 5! is designated M; the eye 63 in the link 52 is designated at N; and the eye 57 of the arm is designated P. At Q I have indicated the normal or untensioned length of the spring 53 so that the distance between the curves P and Q indicates the elongation of the spring 58.

The diagram in Figure 4 is graduated in degrees from zero to 90, and a zero degree condition exists when the points 0, M, N and P are aligned. In this condition, as will be obvious, the spring is stretched by an amount measured by the distance between the curves Q and P at the zero point, but no torque is exerted for the reason that the force of the spring is aligned with the pivot center 0. In this figure it is assumed that the abutment 65 is so positioned that it engages the link 62 when the arms 50 and 50 have been separated by an angle of 40". Therefore, throughout the first 40 of relative angular movement between the arms 59 and 60 the tension means, including the spring 58 and link 62, operate in the usual manner, and the torque developed may be computed if the spring rate is known. Thus, for example, When the angular separation between the arms is 10", the elongation of the spring may be determined by the separation between the curves Q and P at that point, and the effective torque arm developed is indicated at A, the normal distance between the fulcrum center 0 and the line of action of the spring.

Throughout the first 40 of relative angular movement the torque increases in the usual manner, there being a continuous increase in elongation in the spring and a continuous increase in the effective lever arm of the spring. As soon as the link 62 engages the abutment 54, conditions are changed, and further separation of the levers results in a more rapidly increasing torque. This will be apparent from Figure 4 in which it will be observed that length of the spring as measured between the points N and P will increase more rapidly, due to the fact that the point N is no longer permitted to swing about the point M as the center. In addition the lever arm A will increase much more rapidly, due to the fact that the line of action of the spring now passes through a fixed point at the upper end of the curve N.

In order that this developed torque curve may be fully understood, I have included below in tabular form an illustrative set of figures. In the figures 0 represents the angle included between the arms 58 and Gil; A represents the effective torque arm or the normal distance from the point 0 to the line of action of the spring; I represents the elongation of the spring; and RA) represents the torque where R is the assumed or selected spring rate. As will be apparent, this torque, as indicated in the column RA), is that plotted on the chart of Figure 5.

l9 A J I BA) 10 242 120 1. 68 460 180 4. 82 654 275 10. 43 8l2 405 19. O 1.028 560 33. 4 1. 182 755 51. 8 l. 267 972 71. 4 l. 302 1. 192 90. 0 1. 298 1. 420 107. 0

The depending arms 45 of the yoke 44, which engage the fiange 2| of the thrust collarv 2|, retain the collar 2| against rotation on the bushing 20. As previously stated, the plates I8 and I9 are mounted for free rotation on the shaft l5, and during normal operation they will rotate at the same speed as the balls 34. This is a desirable condition. Since the flange 2| does not rotate, even though balls 22 are provided intermediate this flange and the plate I9, in some cases it is found that the plate [9 does not rotate. This gives rise to unsatisfactory operating conditions and causes considerable noise in the governor. It is accordingly desirable to insure that during normal operation of the governor the plate [9 will rotate.

I have found that this aim and other substantially improved results can be obtained by providing a definite relationship between balls 34 v and plates or races l8 and l 9.

In the first place the balls must be of a material which resists corrosion. Secondly, they must have a hard wearing surface. Finally, the surface contact between the balls and plates must be such that the plates will rotate in unison with the balls during constant speed operation.

For this last purpose I have found that very satisfactory results are obtained when the surfaces of the balls are slightly roughened. The amount of roughness is very small, being perceptible primarily under a microscope. At present I am aware of no machining operation which would provide the requisite roughness, but I have found that balls which are plated with chromium in the ordinary commercial manner, and are left unpolished, are perfectly satisfactory.

Results might be improved somewhat if the plates on which the balls run were also chromium plated. but in practice I find that this is not necessary, and the balls keep the race surfaces of the plates clean and in satisfactory condition. It is recognized however that similar operating conditions would prevail if the plates were chromium plated, and the balls merely made of a corrosion-resistant material.

The type of chromium plating referred to herein is that described in Metals Handbook, 1939 edition, published by American Society for Metals, 7016 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. In this handbook, on page 1102, under the title Industrial, or hard chromium plating, appear the following remarks:

Definition-The chromium in hard chromium plating, as distinguished from decorative chromium plating is usually deposited in appreciable thicknesscs directly on the base metal. This type of plate is finding wide industrial application. Ordinarily, the base i fully or semihardened steel. In some cases, however, successful applications have been made on softsteel, cast iron, and many nonferrous alloys. Fairly heavy deposits must be made on the softerbase materials if heavy pressures are encountered'in service.

The plate depth usually is in the range of 0.0001 in. or more. The heavier deposits are used chiefly for salvage purposes.-

Hardness.-The outstanding property of electrochemically deposited chromium is its resistance to wear. Schneidewind reports that the average deposit will show the following hardness values: Vickers-Brinell 625', Mohs 8', and scratch width with Bierbaum- Microcharacter test of 2.

microns. In employing these values, however, it must be borne in mind that the plating conditions have a profound effect onthe hardness of plate. These figures must'therefore be regarded as approximate.

Chromium plate manifestsa file hard reaction to a temper testing file. W ear'resistance far superior to that found with fully hardened tool or die steels is obtained.

Chemical resistivity.0hromium plate is not affected by most organic chemicals, alkalies, sulphur, and sulphur compounds. Nitric acidwill not dissolve it. The plate is readily attacked by hydrochloric acid and slowly by sulphuric acid.

Corrosion resistance.Chromium plate does.

not tarnish or corrode in ordinary atmospheres. However, fairly thin deposits-are apt to contact cracks and pinholes which permit corrosive elements to come in contact with the base metal.

Proper control of plating conditions minimizes this tendency.

In practice the balls are of carburized and heat treated steel. The chromium platehas a minimum thickness of .0003 inch. After plating, the balls are neither buffed nor tumbled and have the inherent roughness which is herein defined as unpolished.

Oil sludge as is well known may contain traces of nitric or sulphuric acid and the unpolished chromium plated balls are substantially unaffected by these impurities; While nickel-chrome or other steel alloys could be used due to their resistance to acid and corrosion, I have so far been unable to discover a method of machining which will impart to balls made. of these ma terials the requisitesurface characteristics. Furthermore, the cost of nickel-chrome steel balls is double the cost of the chromium platedballs disclosed herein. It will be understood however that the present invention. encompasses the use of such alloy balls if roughened to have the surface characteristics of unpolished chromium plated balls.

At present I am not aware of other plating metals than chromium which are satisfactory for the present purpose, but if such are later discovered, their use to produce balls having the specific characteristics covered. herein will of course be merely a substitution of equivalents.

Extensive field use has proved that entirely satisfactory results are obtained when the plates 18 and I9 are blanked from cold rolled steel, carburized and hardened. The plates are preferably coined to the desired shape. I have noted that while the plates may be corroded at points not engaged by the balls, the areas where the balls roll are clean and bright. I have therefore concluded that chromium plated plates are unnecessary.

The chromium plating used is the hard plating described in the Metals' Handbook; and'dueto the file-hard surface resulting, wear on the balls is negligible.

Referring now to Figure 3, I have illustrated a compression spring it surrounding the shaft H and abutting against the yoke M. The yoke 44 is keyed to the shaft M, as previously described, with the result that the spring NJ urges the shaft ll to the left as seen in Figure 3. Exteriorly of the boss 42 I provide a friction and sealing plate ll which is secured against rotation to the shaft ll. The plate ll may for example be pressed to the shaft ii for rotation therewith. The end surface of the boss 42 against which the plates abut, may be finished smoothly, and the plate H may be hardened and ground. By selecting a spring of sufficient strength, any desired amount of friction within reasonable limits may be introduced.

The governor as a whole is designed so as to reduce friction of the parts to a minimum, with the result that the friction introduced by the friction plate ll may be substantially all of the friction present in the device. As a result of this, it is possible to control within accurate limits the over-all friction encountered. in the operation of the device. It is desirable to introduce friction so as to slow the response of the governor under certain operating conditions. For example, when the governor is applied to a tractor, and where the tractor is pulling a farming implement, such for example as a disk, across a plowed field, there is a rapid succession of impulses. As a result, the governor in many cases will be found to cause undesirable surges in the motor in synchronism with the impulses applied. Under these circumstances, by providing a predetermined amount of frictional resistance to response, the response may be delayed so that these undesirable surges are avoided. As will be evident, of course, the provision of friction in a device will not seriously affect the speed range or the closeness of regulation of the governor.

Instead of employing a hardened and ground plate 7!, it may in some instances be preferable to provide a plate of non-metallic material, such for example as a fibrous material. In either case it is found that where this frictional resistance is introduced in the manner specified, it is unnecessary to supply a separate oil seal for pre venting leakage of oil from the interior of the governor around the shaft ii. The friction plate is found to perform this oil sealing function in an entirely satisfactory manner.

Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, I have illustrated a modified form of driver 39, corresponding generally to driver 36 shown in Figure 2. In this case responsiveness of the governor is modified by providing the driver 85 with curved, inclined slots 8i for the reception of balls 3ft, shown in this figure in dotted lines. Driver is secured to sleeve 32 for rotation with drive shaft 55.

The slots &i are preferably curved so as to equal angles with radial lines, or in other words formed. as a logarithmic spiral. In practice however this curve may be closely approximated by a circular arc whose center is remote from the axis of the driver.

During constant speed operation, with all parts in equilibrium, the curvature and inclination of the slots do not affect the operation. During acceleration or deceleration, however, the inclination of the slots affects the sensitivity of the governor. Thus for example with the slots inclined rearwardly from the direction of rotation a shown by the arrow in Figure 6, the inclination of the slots aids outward movement of the balls during acceleration, and aids inward movement of the balls during deceleration. As will be obvious, this renders the governor more responsive to speed changes. If the slots were oppositely inclined, the governors responsiveness would be retarded, thus serving a purpose simi lar to friction member H previously described.

By curving the slots at a substantially uniform angle to the radial lines, the effectiveness of the slots for the purpose set forth is kept substan tially constant for all positions of the balls.

It is further within the scope of the invention to provide the slots so as to make different angles with radial lines so as to affect the sensitivity in a predetermined manner for different positions of the balls between balls-in and balls-out position.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 and 8, I have provided for novel lubrication of my improved governor. A seen in Figure 2, the housing id is provided with a closure plate i3. As best seen in Figure 8, the closure plate l3 has formed therein a plurality of openings, an elongated upper opening led, a pair of inter mediate smaller openings I31 and a bottom opening or drain hole I30.

During operation of the governor, the driving gear it and the gear meshed therewith are lubricated by means of an oil supply, at least one of the gears being partly immersed in oil contained at the bottom of the casing. As a result, the gear it, and the gear or gears associated there- With are adequately lubricated, and in addition oil i splashed and thrown in substantially all directions within the casing.

The closure plate 53 is provided with the upper elongated opening and a very substantial quantity of oil passes into the interior of the governor housing ll through the opening l'a. It is found in practice that more oil will be admitted through the opening its during normal operation than will run out through the lower opening or drain hole lfic. In order to maintain the oil level within the housing Ill at a desired height, the pair of intermediate relatively smaller openings it?) are provided in the closure plate It. Openings ltb will determine the level of the oil in the governor housing iii. While there will be a tendency for ome oil to be drawn into the housing through the opening i319, it will be appreciated that if the oil level in the housing l0 reaches the openings E31 this oil will run out through these openings and prevent the oil level from raising substantially above the lower portions of the openings [3b. At the same time there will be a continuous flow of oil out the lower opening or drain hole E30.

When the governor comes to rest and oil ceases to be thrown in through the openings lea and/or the openings i313, this oil will drain out through the lower opening i310. During operation of the governor there will be a continuous flow of oil out the lower opening I30, and I have found in practice that this continuous flow of oil out the lower opening I38 prevents the accumulation of sludge in the governor housing iii. Apparently sludge will be washed out through the lower opening or drain hole 30.

As a result of the construction just described, the governor during normal operation will run in a bath of oil, and the lower portion of the plates l8 and 19 will be immersed in a reservoir of oil to a depth determined by the location of the intermediate openings [33). This insures uniformity of lubrication and contributes to the efficiency of operation and long life of my improved governor.

While I have illustrated and described a specific embodiment of my governor, it will be apparent that this has been done solely to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, at least one of said surfaces being provided with commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate.

2. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, at least one of said surfaces being provided with commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate of a thickness of at least .0003 inch.

3. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, the surfaces of said balls being provided with commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate of a thickness of at least .0003 inch.

4. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the en- Cal tire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, at least the surfaces of said balls being commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate.

5. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by said plates, said plates being formed of hardened steel, said balls being formed of hardened steel having unpolished surfaces of hard, commercial chromium plating.

6. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, said plates being formed of hardened steel, at least the surfaces of said balls being commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate.

'7. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, said plates being formed of hardened steel, said balls being formed of hardened steel, having surfaces of commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate of a thickness of at least .0003 inch.

8. In a centrifugal governor, a rotary driving member having outwardly extending slots, means for rotating said member, a pair of plates at opposite sides of said member, said plates being formed to provide an outwardly reduced space therebetween, said plates being mounted for substantially free rotation and for relative axial movement, and balls in said slots engaged by annular surfaces of said plates, whereby the entire surfaces of said balls and annular surfaces of said plates are bearing surfaces, said plates being formed of hardened steel, said balls being formed of hardened steel, at least one of the surfaces aforesaid being provided with commercial, hard, unpolished chromium plate.

HERMAN G. ADLER. 

